“Who Would Burn Off a Kitten’s Ears?” Asks BARCS Animal Shelter

A kitten was found in Belair-Edison with her ears and whiskers burnt off, apparently the result of deliberate torture.

Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter posted to social media about rescuing Duckie, a one-month-old kitten, after a “concerned citizen” found her injured on her window sill and called Animal Control.

“When the officers arrived, they found Duckie,” BARCS wrote, “seared and in extreme pain—they rushed her immediately to our shelter and into the exam room of our BARCS medical team.”

According to the group, the injuries appear to be deliberate:

It was immediately clear that Duckie’s injuries were the result of fire. Her little “bean” pads on her feet are painful and a deep red, her ears are freshly burned from the tips down; her whiskers are short, spiky and singed. There is minimal burning on other parts of her body, which lead our staff veterinarians to believe that this was purposeful, targeted and done by a person with intent to harm.

Unfortunately, these animal abuse incidents are not new to the area. Several instances of animals being set on fire prompted Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to form the Anti-Animal Abuse Advisory Commission, which in 2011 rolled out an aggressive billboard campaign that pairs pet-loving sports icons with the blunt message, “Only a punk would hurt a cat or dog.”